Game Changer

Another day, another major development in the ongoing Trump saga and this one may be a game changer.

A new report in The New York Times reveals that President Donald J. Trump, in a February meeting in the Oval Office, asked former FBI Director James Comey to lay off the investigation into then-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. The details of this meeting, according to the report, were recorded in a memo Comey had written directly after the interaction – recording and filing these sorts of meetings, especially with a sitting President, is a standard practice employed by the FBI. Flynn, as we know, was later fired from his post and is one of many Trump associates who are being investigated by the FBI over possible ties with Russia.

In the Comey memo, as reported in the Times, the President was plain in his intent, telling the former FBI Director, “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.”

Many lawmakers and pundits are calling this a clear case of obstruction of justice, and for the first time in Trump’s short presidency impeachment is being discussed as more than a remote possibility but perhaps an inevitability.

Even Republican lawmakers all over Capitol Hill have expressed legitimate concern over the latest allegations, but by and large are requesting confirmation before coming to any final conclusions. To that end, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, immediately fired off a letter to Mr, Andrew G. McCabe, Acting Director of the FBI, requesting that all memos and documentation be submitted to the Oversight Committee by 24 May.

Since day one in office, it’s been death by a thousand cuts for the President, most of which have been self-inflicted. This developing story, however, feels different. There is starting to be a shift, most notably among Republicans on the Hill that the situation in the White House has become a liability they can no longer abide.

For the record, in a statement to The Huffington Post, the White House denies this latest report:

While the President has repeatedly expressed his view that General Flynn is a decent man who served and protected our country, the President has never asked Mr. Comey or anyone else to end any investigation, including any investigation involving General Flynn. The President has the utmost respect for our law enforcement agencies, and all investigations. This is not a truthful or accurate portrayal of the conversation between the President and Mr. Comey.